Mercedes-Benz's New CLA Series To Pack Google Cloud's AI-Powered Conversational Search For Navigation
Users can converse with the AI assistant and get answers to questions like “Could you guide me to the nearest fine-dining restaurant?” or “What is the chef’s signature dish?”
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Mercedes-Benz and Google Cloud have announced the expansion of their partnership to introduce new conversational capabilities to the MBUX Virtual Assistant, powered by Google Cloud's new Automotive AI Agent.
Using Gemini on Vertex AI, the Automotive AI Agent is specially built for the automotive industry and can reference information from Google Maps Platform to give users more detailed and personalised conversational responses about navigation, points of interest, and more.
Google Maps Platform provides Mercedes-Benz owners with information about 250 million places around the world. The map is updated nearly in real time, with over 100 million updates made to the map each day, according to the company.
The MBUX Virtual Assistant can respond with up-to-date information and display navigation details through the vehicle’s native interface. It will be available in Mercedes-Benz’s new CLA series later this year. A rollout to other models is also planned.
With the enhanced search and navigation experience, users can converse naturally with the MBUX Virtual Assistant and get answers to questions like: “Could you guide me to the nearest fine-dining restaurant for a unique culinary experience?” Users can also ask follow up questions, like: “Does the restaurant have good reviews?” or “What is the chef’s signature dish?”
The AI agent will also enable the MBUX Virtual Assistant to handle complex, multi-turn dialogue and can retain memory of conversations, which means users can continue conversations and reference information throughout their drives.
“Our partnership with Google Cloud will further enhance in-car navigation, combining sophisticated location data with generative AI. Launching with the new CLA, our next-gen navigation will allow drivers and passengers to use voice commands to obtain comprehensive and personalised information within seconds,” said Ola Källenius, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Group AG.
The AI agent enables automakers to leverage generative AI and large language models to build and deploy customised, first-party, voice assistant experiences. Google’s Gemini models enable multimodal reasoning capabilities through natural language speech interactions and uses information from Google Maps Platform.
“Mercedes-Benz is known for providing an amazing driving experience, and our partnership will bring cutting edge AI breakthroughs to make those experiences even better. Our new Automotive AI Agent will help drivers navigate and search with in-vehicle assistants, so those interactions are more natural and helpful,” said Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet.
